You Don't Know me

Untitled Part 2

At first living with my dad was okay. I had my own room, lots of toys, even had my own Sega. A couple of days after I moved in, my dad asked me if I wanted a pet cat or pet dog. I said I wanted a pet cat. We went out and we got a calico cat, and I named him Milo. All was going good. Brenda, my dad's girlfriend, went out and bought me a DVD player and bunch of movies that ranged from Harry Potter to Pokémon. It started getting bad when my dad would try to force me to walk heal-toe. I couldn't do it, it was just too hard, and it hurt a lot. He took me into the doctor, and at first they were talking surgery, but decided to try Botox injections instead. I got twelve shots in all three sides of my ankles. I was put into casts after I got the shots, and they covered most of my calves.

Sometime after I got put into the casts we moved from Purdy, Missouri to Monet, Missouri. I started school in Monet as a first grader. I hated it; I was made fun of because of the casts on my legs. I was called "Clunker" because of the sound my casts would make when I walked across the floor. I got jumped in the hallway, because I wouldn't tell some kids where I got my tan from. About halfway through the first quarter of first grade I went back to the doctor. The doctor said my legs needed more time, so I had to get a new pair of casts. The bullying got worse. I was wearing the casts and the clothes I wore did not help either. I was really skinny, I had no muscle, and I was really short. I was not athletic at all; I did not play sports in P.E. I sat there because the casts prevented me from running.

I went back to the doctor a month or so later, and again I was told I needed more time, so I got my third pair of casts. I went back to the doctor at the end of the semester, and it was good news! I was done with the casts, and I was ready to move to leg braces. The braces were a plastic splint like thing that I had to wear instead of the casts. I was so happy to be out of my casts, but when I went back to school I was still made fun of.

"Ha-ha! He got an upgrade!"

After that year I moved back to Purdy. I still had my braces, but school had gotten to be so much better. At home it had begun to be even worse. I would always get yelled at by my dad, and Brenda's attitude toward me had changed drastically. At school I managed to make a few friends, and they eventually invited me to go to their church. I really liked going to the church; I was welcomed by everyone. I was put in the group called "Sparkies" because I was under the age of fifteen. I really liked school and church, but home was still bad for me. I really missed my mom and sisters. It had been close to two years since I had seen them last. My dad tried to get me to call Brenda "mom", but I just would refuse to do so. I got smacked in the mouth for not calling her mom, but knew who my mom was and it was not her. About half way through my second grade year I was playing with Milo, but I was grounded so I was not to play with him. My dad got angry and put him outside. I started crying and I looked outside to see something that a kid should never see. I witnessed the neighbor's dog run into my yard and basically ripped my little Milo to shreds. I started banging on the window, and my dad looked and ran outside and forced the dog away. He acted too late, and the job had been done.

We moved from Purdy to Joplin, Missouri, during winter break. We lived there for almost the rest of the school year. We moved to Springfield, Missouri, with five days of school left. We got the Springfield, and I wanted to go to school so bad that my dad got me enrolled in school for the last three days of school. Those three days were not very pleasant, and I did not fit in. The first day I was basically called dumb compared to the other kids. I could not write cursive, and I was a terrible reader. The second day I was drinking lots of water, and I really had to use the restroom. The teacher said I could wait till recess, but I really had to go. Eventually I got tired of waiting and went on myself. The last day the teacher was wondering why the floor under my desk was wet and I kind of told her. She addressed me with my full name and degraded me.

That summer we moved back to Purdy. Close to the end of summer I had one of the best days of my life. I woke up to see my mom and my sisters all sitting in the living room. They stayed with me for the entire day but left that night. Once school started I got into something called Yu-Gi-Oh. One day my dad, Brenda, and I all went to Wal-Mart and I got shady. I got caught stealing a booster pack. I only got caught because I found a Dark Magician, and I kind of screamed that I found it. That day went downhill very fast. The person who questioned me about why I stole the cards may have been the pastor of my church. I never went back to the church; they even gave me a going away party. That school year ended and it was summer time. One day that summer I will never ever forget. My dad tried to turn me against my mom. It was 4:50 and my dad told me to go with him. He said I would see how "woman" my mom was. My dad and I approached this prepaid phone and at 5:00 mom calls the phone. My dad answered the phone and asked if she wanted to see me. Shortly after he said "you better get him today, or you will never see him again" then he hung up the phone.